


The Teddy Bear II

by gatcombepark



Series: Fertility Treatment AU [12]
Category: British Royal Family
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 13:37:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2111937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatcombepark/pseuds/gatcombepark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anne comes down with pneumonia. 7 1/2 pages of angst ensues. Brace yourself, you will probably cry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Teddy Bear II

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will make more sense if you've already read The Teddy Bear and Bertie's Teddy, as the two bears in this story (Reggie and Commodore) are the same bears mentioned in those works.
> 
> Allie Tindall (short for Alice) is Zara's other daughter, with whom she was pregnant in Where do Babies Come From. We'll meet her properly later. 
> 
> Bertie is six in this, meaning Mia is eight. Set in the late fall (like mid-November).

Tim walked into the room to find his wife having yet another coughing fit. They had been going on for several days now, and showed no signs of stopping.

"Anne? Are you okay?"

"Tim, I’ve told you a hundred times over the past week: it’s just a cold. I’ll be fine." Anne momentarily caught her breath before another round of coughs overtook her. "Just get me some kind of chesty cough medicine and it will go away."

"Anne, it’s been nearly two weeks now. Colds don’t last that long. You need to go to the doctor."

"He’s not going to be able to do anything."

"Anne, I’m putting my foot down. Call Dr. Morton and make an appointment for this afternoon. If it really is nothing you can say ‘I told you so’ but I’m not letting you risk it."

* * *

Anne entered the study and joined her husband on the sofa. “So, love,” Tim said, “how did the doctor’s appointment go?”

"Not so well. Apparently it’s not just a cough; it’s bronchitis. He’s given me a shot for it, but since it was caught so late, it still runs the risk of turning into pneumonia. I’m supposed to rest. Luckily my workload this week is light and we’ve gotten the harvest in already."

"Anne, I really don’t think you ought to do anything. You’ve been going nonstop for months. The doctor told you to rest; you should cancel your engagements and let yourself get better."

"I only have four this week. I’ll be fine. Even if I did cancel them, what do you think I would do, sit in bed the whole time with a farm to run and Bertie to take care of? Unlikely."

"I know it would bore you to death, but you really ought to. The farm will be fine without you for a few days, and if I have any issues with Bertie, I can always ask. You need time to get better."

"Absolutely not. I have a commitment and it needs to be fulfilled. The engagements will go on, and so will the rest of the work. In fact, speaking of Bertie, I need to leave right now to go pick him up from school." She stood and strode out of the room before Tim even had a chance to protest.

* * *

Anne stifled a hacking cough as the Range Rover turned onto the estate. Bertie caught her eye in the rearview mirror, a concerned expression on his face.

"Mummy, are you okay? You’ve been coughing a lot. At school they told us coughing can mean you’re sick."

"I am a little sick. But the doctors gave me medicine for it today and I’ll be fine in a few days. You don’t need to worry, and neither does your daddy, you can tell him I told you that."

"Okay, Mummy. I hope you feel better soon."

Anne parked the car at the front of the house and they both went inside. Tim immediately scooped his son into his arms. “How’s my little man?”

"I’m good, Daddy. Mummy is sick, though. But she told me to tell you not to worry about it."

"Oh, did she?" Tim cocked an eyebrow at Anne.

"Yes, I did, and not worrying about it is exactly what you’re going to do. Go take care of your homework, Bertie. If you need any help, talk to your father. I’ll be in my office. _Working_.”

* * *

A few days later, Anne slid into bed next to her husband after a full day. There had been two engagements in the morning, a meeting with her secretaries, and then a full afternoon of work on the farm, despite her husband’s continuing protests.

"Anne, I’m serious. It’s been another entire week now and that cough isn’t one bit better. In fact, it’s worse. You don’t have anything scheduled tomorrow. _Go to the doctor_.”

"I don’t want to. But if I don’t feel any better when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll give them a call." She rolled over and fell asleep almost immediately, too worn down by the long day to put up a fight.

The next morning when she woke up, she felt much worse. The cough was much stronger than the day before, and she was so tired she could barely bring herself to get out of bed and dressed, despite having had a full night’s sleep.

"Tim… I’m exhausted. Will you please drive me to the doctor?"

"So does this mean I was right?"

She glared at him. “Maybe I should just ask my policeman.”

"Fine, come with me when we drop off Bertie and we’ll go to the doctor’s after."

* * *

"Ma’am, it seems the bronchitis has indeed worsened into pneumonia. A rather severe case, in fact. You should be fine before much longer, but I am going to go ahead and put you in the hospital for the weekend, as it seems the temptation to ignore my directions is too great otherwise."

The look on Tim’s face said it all. _Told you!_ Anne shot a glare in his direction as payback for ratting her out to the doctor.

"I’ll be fine by Monday, right? I have work to do."

"Ma’am, I’m not sure how to put this gently. You may not be fine by Monday. But if you don’t go ahead and rest so you can recover, you run a very real risk of worsening the problem even more."

"Anne. Listen to the man. Go to the hospital. No one is going to crucify you for missing an engagement or two for health reasons."

"Fine, but I don’t have to like it."

* *

The small suitcase contained a few changes of clothes (mostly pajamas), some toiletries, her mobile phone, her iPad, and some very thick books. Though her family would be visiting her, they couldn’t stay the whole time and she was anticipating serious boredom.

"Mummy? Are you _sure_ you’ll be okay?”

"Yes, Bertie. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll be back in just a few days, and you’ll get to come visit me anyways. Give your mummy a kiss goodbye for now, okay?"

"Okay." Bertie still looked fairly nervous as Tim kissed her goodbye as well and led his son out of the room. Anne settled into the bed with a book and waited for the inevitable barrage of interruptions.

It was so inane. Some time had passed since Anne last needed to be in hospital for any reason, but she remembered well the endless parade of nurses, doctors and orderlies in and out of the room at all hours of the day and night… poking and prodding, checking vitals, _eat this, drink that, take these_. This time was no different. And soon enough, her doctor showed up on his evening rounds.

"So, are you settling in well?"

"I’m horribly bored, but I can’t do a blessed thing about it because I never get more than a few moments’ peace to occupy myself with something else. Between all the interruptions I must have read the same line in this book fifty times by now."

"Well, things should calm down pretty soon. They have you checked in and your file sorted, so unless something goes wrong you should be able to get a full night’s sleep."

"Thank goodness. So I’ll see you in the morning?"

"Yes, ma’am. You’re not on a drip or anything, so feel free to get up, brush your teeth, shower and so on, it shouldn’t be a problem."

"Alright, thank you."

* *

_Two days later_

"Yes, hello, Timothy Laurence speaking, who is this?"

"Hello, Mr. Laurence, this is your wife’s physician, Dr. Morton. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but her condition has worsened significantly since you were in to see her yesterday. She’s not critical yet, but we are moving her to the high dependency unit this afternoon as a precaution."

"Oh. God. Thank you for letting me know."

"Certainly. I should also point out that the HDU does not admit any visitors under the age of twelve, so if you want your son to have a chance to see her before she’s moved, you need to be here as soon as possible."

"We will be on our way as soon as we hang up. Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

* * *

01452 555555: Oh God. Anne. Darling. I’m sorry I left even for a moment. We’re on our way.

01452 555556: It’s okay. You needed to rest and Bertie certainly did.

01452 555556: Do me a favor though

01452 555556: Take my teddy bear off the shelf in our room and bring it with you. Put it in a grocery bag or something so Bertie doesn’t see it.

01452 555555: Done and done. We’ll see you in a few, dear.

* * *

"Mummy?" Bertie was sitting on Tim’s knee, holding his favorite teddy bear, both of them in a chair pulled as close as possible to Anne’s bed. "When are you coming back home?"

Tim gave his wife’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Bertie, I may not be able to come home for a while. The doctor visited me this morning, and he said I was much sicker. They have to take me to a special part of the hospital to help me get better.” Anne’s voice was noticeably weaker, little more than a hoarse whisper.

"Oh." The little boy copied his father, picking up his mother’s other hand in his tiny one. "I want you to get better. But please come home soon, Mummy. I miss you. So does Commodore." He gestured to the bear tucked under one arm.

Anne smiled wanly. “I miss you too, baby boy. And I’ll do my best. But let me tell you a little story. Tim, do you have what I asked you to bring?” He reached down beside the chair and handed her a plain brown bag. Anne took out her beloved teddy bear.

"When I was a little girl, my mummy, your granny Lilibet, often had to be away for weeks or even months at a time. I got sad and missed her, too. She gave me this teddy bear to remind me of her, so even when she was a long way away I could feel like she was right there with me.

"Bertie, I have to go away for a while, too. The special part of the hospital I’m going to won’t let you in to visit me." Bertie’s eyes began to well up with tears. "I know, baby. Come here." He moved from Tim’s lap to sit on the side of the bed, and Anne pulled him into her arms. "I know. I love you so much and I’m going to miss you as much as you will miss me, or more. But I have to go so that I can get better.

"But here’s what I want you to do. I’m going to give you my teddy bear. You have to take very good care of him, he’s very old and fragile, but I’m sure he will be happy to meet Commodore. Whenever you feel lonely, you can give him a hug just like I did when I was a little girl. And I’ll be right there with you."

"Okay, Mummy." He picked up his head, and Anne gently wiped his eyes with a tissue from the box on the bedside table before kissing his cheek. "I think Commodore likes him already. What’s his name?"

"Reggie. Be sweet to him."

"I will, Mummy. Don’t worry."

Tim spoke to his son now. “I know you don’t want to go, but your mummy is getting tired and needs to rest. Zara and Mike are going to keep you for the afternoon so I can help the doctors with Mummy, and Zara is out in the hall with Mia waiting for you. So go ahead and tell her goodbye.”

"Okay." Bertie leaned over and kissed Anne on the cheek. "Bye, Mummy. Get better soon. I love you."

"I love you too, sweet little boy. And I’ll do my best."

* * *

Tim returned to his wife’s side after walking Bertie out to Zara. “Darling.” He kissed her hand and gently pressed it against his cheek.

"Tim. I’m worried about him. What if-" she was interrupted by a burst of coughs- "what if I don’t make it? And that’s the last time he ever sees me? That’s why I gave him Reggie- so he would at least have something… corporeal to remind him of me. Maybe they were right and we were too old to have him; there was too much of a risk of us not living until he’s grown. I don’t want to leave him without a mother before he’s even turned seven…"

Tim rubbed her back as more coughs wracked her body. “Sweetheart, I know it’s hard. But you’re overanalyzing this. Don’t think like that. You will get better, and we’ll have you back home before you know it. Just follow the doctor’s instructions and fight hard for me, okay? And darling… if anything ever did happen to you, believe me, I would personally see to it that he never forgot his Mummy. It wasn’t a mistake. He’s a wonderful little boy and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about how glad I am we had him. And I know the same is true for you.”

"You’re right, dear. I also think every day about how thankful I am that I have you to keep my head on straight."

"I love you too, baby. Now get some rest so you have the strength to fight this. You’re much too obstinate to let it beat you. I’ll be right beside you if you need me."

* * *

Back at Zara’s house, Bertie and Mia were sitting on the floor of Mia’s room. “Can I play with your new bear?” Mia asked. “What’s his name?”

"His name is Reggie. And… no."

"What? Why not?"

"He was my mummy’s and he’s old and fragile and can’t get torn up. I have to keep him nice and pretty for her."

"Okay, can I play with Commodore?" Bertie shook his head. "Come on, Bertie, why not?"

"Commodore wants to stay with Reggie. He doesn’t want Reggie to be taken away from him. Reggie has to stay with me, so Commodore does too."

"He’ll be right here! We can play with them together."

"I really don’t want to play right now." Bertie climbed up onto the bed and laid down on it, hugging both bears closely to him.

"Come on, Bertie, why? You’re no fair. I’m telling Mummy." She ran out the door and down the stairs, and Bertie hugged Reggie a little tighter.

Downstairs, Mia found her mother. “Mummy! Bertie is being mean. He won’t play with me.”

"What’s wrong, honey?"

"He has a new teddy named Reggie and he won’t even let me touch it. He says Granny told him to take extra special care of it. I wouldn’t tear it up. But he says no. So I asked him to let me play with Commodore instead and he said Commodore wants to stay with Reggie. I suggested we play with them together and he said he didn’t want to play right now."

Zara knelt down at eye level with her daughter. “Okay. Listen to me. I know it’s disappointing that he doesn’t want to play with you right now, but Granny is very sick- you remember we went to visit her in the hospital today before we picked Bertie up- and Bertie is really upset about it. She’s his mummy. Wouldn’t you be upset if something was wrong with me?”

"Yes…" The little girl frowned as she thought about it.  
“Okay. So if he doesn’t want to play, don’t make him. You’ll just upset him even more. Maybe you should play with Allie instead.”

"Allie is boring! She’s too little to do anything fun!" Zara gave Mia a stern look. "Okay. I won’t bother him, Mummy. I understand."

"That’s my girl." With an approving nod from Zara, Mia headed back up the stairs.

* * *

A few hours later, Zara stepped into the darkened hospital room. Anne lay asleep, her hand in Tim’s, who had himself fallen asleep, his head tipping forward until it came to rest on the mattress by Anne’s side. Monitors and machines clicked and beeped unnoticed in the background. As Zara gently shook his shoulder, Tim awoke.

"Hmmm? Oh. Zara. Hi. Are we changing shifts, then?"

"Yes. Me for the next few hours, then Peter, then you come back tomorrow afternoon. We’ll call you if anything happens, good or bad, okay?"

"Okay." Tim first kissed his wife goodbye (despite her continuing slumber), then Zara, and headed out to the waiting car.

When he arrived back at Zara’s house, he found Bertie asleep on an air mattress in Mia’s room, clutching both Commodore and Reggie close to his body. Though he slept peacefully, there were tearstains on his plump little cheeks, and Tim’s heart broke thinking about how scared and lonely the little boy must be feeling. Tim carried his son out to the car and buckled him in, careful not to wake him, and they set off for home.

* * *

_Three days later_

Anne came to and realized her surroundings were unfamiliar. This was not the same lonely, dark little HDU room she had been in for the past few days: there was sunlight streaming in through a huge window and, more importantly, Bertie had joined Tim in his bedside vigil.

"Hello, love. I missed you!"

"MUMMY!" Bertie practically jumped out of the chair to give her a kiss and get one back in return, along with a warm, tight hug. "I missed you too, Mummy. But Reggie helped me. He kept me company even when I was very sad."

"He’s a good friend, isn’t he, sweetheart?" Bertie nodded his agreement. "So I guess this means that I’m past the worst of it?" She looked to Tim.

"According to the doctors, you improved significantly last night. I thought you heard them saying they were going to move you back into the general ward this morning, but maybe you had already fallen back asleep. Anyways, if you keep getting better, they’re saying you should be ready to come home within forty-eight hours."

"Wonderful." Anne smiled. "I am feeling much better. Did everything get on fine without me?"

"We at the farm were all okay. A few engagements have had to be canceled, but the charities understood. They are working with your staff to try to reschedule what they can."

"Excellent. Hopefully I’ll be back to work by the end of the week. Will you help me out of this bed and to the bathroom? I haven’t even brushed my teeth in days, I need to make myself presentable."

Tim smiled and held out his hand. _Oh, she’s definitely back with us. I missed you, darling._

 

(A/N: Reggie is a normal Steiff bear with a ribbon tied around his neck, not unlike this picture, but with a lot of wear and tear due to age:

Commodore is this bear-

\- but with a little crown around one ear.)

 


End file.
